It’s new iPad week, and that means the rush is on to grab the first unboxing video, followed soon after by the first actual delivery and so on. You can check that unboxing video off your list -- a new 16GB iPad with 4G LTE has already surfaced in Vietnam, but there’s not a whole lot to see.

Confirming Friday’s report that new iPad preorder ship dates have slipped past this Friday’s launch date, Apple says that demand for the new tablet has been “off the charts” -- with many eager buyers already lining up outside Apple retail stores to make sure they get one on March 16.

We’re now at T-minus seven days and counting before the first wave of new iPads come flying into the hearts and minds of their early adopter owners, and already Apple’s online store is feeling the squeeze, with orders now shipping by March 19. But don’t get too bummed out -- there’s likely to be an ample supply at stores nationwide next Friday, assuming you don’t mind duking it out with all of the other procrastinators. Let’s find out what else is making news for this fine Friday, March 9, 2012, shall we?

If you’ve happened to watch Wednesday’s keynote on Apple’s website, you may have noticed a curious thing that CEO Tim Cook did early on -- he stopped the show for a moment to get a few swift kicks in the head to Android’s Twitter app, which he dismissed as simply a “blown-up smartphone app.”

“The new iPad” has arrived, and thanks to months of mostly accurate rumors, the only real surprise wound up being the name (so much for iPad 3 or iPad HD!). But that doesn’t mean this year’s iPad is perfect -- we’re the sort of users who are always left wanting more.

Apple rarely plays the specs game, particularly when it comes to its iOS devices. Sure, you’ll get a name for the processor and they’ll boast about pixels when it suits them, but talk about RAM or clock speed and there’s radio silence. However, according to one source, the iPad’s dirty little secret is its ever-increasing RAM usage.

Apple has a pretty slick comparison chart listing all the specs for the iPad 3 and the iPad 2 side-by-side. So let's run down those and answer these questions: If you have an iPad 2 already, should you upgrade? And if you don't have any iPad yet, which one should you buy?

Happy “new iPad” Day! It’s been a long day for those of us here at MacLife.com, pecking away at our keyboards until our fingers are mere nubs, all in the name of getting you, the dear readers, the latest and greatest Apple news as quickly as (in)humanly possible. But the new iPad and a new Apple TV aren’t the only surprises from Cupertino today -- you’ll be busy this evening downloading lots and lots of updates, so here are the ones you’ll be looking for this fine Wednesday, March 7, 2012.

Now that we’re officially entrenched in the "post-PC" recvolution, we can officially say goodbye to megahertz (and the myths that go along with them) forever. They might still be a necessary evil on Mac spec sheets, but as the iPad and iPhone competitors have proved, the harmony of the package means much more than a top-of-the-line chip.

Our friends at TechRadar got to go into the demo room and play with the new iPad. The new Retina Display makes even the Home screen look better than ever, and the new processor means that the device is fast and quick to react--everything a tablet should be. Though it's a bit heavier than its predecessors, the new iPad is definitely giving all other tablets a run for their money. Jump ahead to see the photos.